Deafening
by PineappleSouffle
Summary: In which Beca is sat next to Chloe, her crush, in an exam. Needless to say, it doesn't go well. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect or that ringtone. Just a little idea I had while sitting in my exam last week.**

'You may begin.'

The rustle of papers turning over coincides with Beca swearing repeatedly and explicitly in the junkyard that is her head. She stares down blankly at the first page of their Chemistry exam. She doesn't normally care about doing badly on exams, but this time a sick feeling of complete and utter dread is sitting, like a ball of lead, in her stomach.

She hasn't learned any of this. Beca flips the page hastily, ignoring the small rip she makes in the corner of the page. Or this. Did anyone actually revise for this exam? She can hear pens frantically scribbling away, so evidently some people did. Or maybe they just have a better memory than her, which wouldn't be surprising since her head is usually just full of music and swearwords.

Beca looks up quickly, trying to work out whether either of her neighbours have the same problem as her. Amy, who is on one side of her, is staring down at the questions like they are written in code. She breathes a slow sigh of relief that she's not the only one and looks back at her paper in the vain hope that the questions will have rearranged themselves. They haven't.

She flicks through the paper, guessing at some of the easier questions and completely ignoring the long answer at the end. Beca wonders why she didn't revise more, and remembers that even though she did set aside a time to revise for once, it got forgotten while she was creating her seventh mix of the night. By the time she had finished it to her satisfaction, it was two in the morning, she had run out of Red Bull, and she just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

Checking her other side, she has to stifle a gasp of shock and outrage at the unfairness of the world. Of all the _people_ in her class, in the year even, she just had to be sitting next to Chloe Beale. She suspects the teachers have placed the students in a random order. She wouldn't normally have a problem with that, but no, she had to end up next to Chloe. Who is conveniently also the girl Beca has been crushing on since she joined the school almost two years ago.

If there was ever any doubt that Beca would fail this exam, it has all been erased in the past three minutes, during which Beca has been shamelessly staring at Chloe.

Realising what she is doing, Beca finds the strength of will to tear her gaze away. It's not her fault the redhead is so pretty. It's like she demands to be looked at. Except she would never demand (she's Chloe Beale, for God's sake), just ask so nicely and in such a way that you would find yourself willing to do anything for her.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, her face on fire, Beca looks back down at the paper, and halfheartedly tries to guess a few more of the answers, scrawling down words almost at random.

Beca doesn't even like Chemistry: she only joined the class because she had accidentally (okay, maybe not accidentally) overheard Chloe telling her friends it was her favourite subject. Unfortunately for Beca, who had hoped they would finally have a chance to talk, she walked in late on the first day, was promptly told to sit at the back, and had been sat there ever since.

None of her close friends (i.e. Jesse) are in the subject along with her, so Beca always spends the hour trying any means she can to relieve the absolute boredom. Usually, this means doodling or staring at Chloe, but the sad result of never paying attention is that she fails all the exams. Not that she really cares - she is going to drop Chemistry next year, Chloe or no Chloe. Although, the time she gets to spend - albeit indirectly - with Chloe is probably worth it.

She looks at the clock. Ten minutes! How can she have only been sitting here for ten minutes out of a two hour exam?! In her head, she tries to calculate what fraction of the total time that is before giving up. Mental maths has never been her strong suit either.

With nothing better to do (at least, that's what she tells herself), Beca goes back to staring at Chloe.

Chloe, who is of course one of those people who writes far too much for every question but still gets top marks. Right now, she is writing at breakneck speed, turning the page seemingly every other minute.

Chloe's concentrating face is probably Beca's favourite of all her different expressions. Her brows are slightly furrowed, the tip of her tongue is caught between her teeth, and she is winding a strand of red hair round her finger. She begins to write again, and from what Beca can see, her handwriting is perfect as well - beautifully formed, every t crossed, every i dotted neatly. It's almost the opposite of Beca's untidy scrawl. Beca probably could have nicer handwriting, but, like with most things school-related, she can never really be bothered.

If Chloe had been anyone else, Beca would have hated her. After all, she is every teacher's model student, while Beca is the troublemaker chatting at the back of the class after the teacher has called for silence. But this is Chloe Beale, who is nigh on impossible to hate. Probably nearly all of the student populace - both male and female - have had a crush on her or wanted to be her friend at some point.

Beca's train of thought is just leading her to consider setting up a support group for those Chloe has left broken-hearted when she gets distracted as she watches Chloe, who, lost in thought, is chewing the end of her pencil.

It's not a habit Beca has noticed before (and she has catalogued almost every one of Chloe's quirks, for science obviously), but she can't help but wish she is the pencil. She unconsciously mimics the action, drawing the end of her own pencil softly round her mouth.

Chloe looks up, and Beca is so startled that she drops her pencil. It skitters across the floor to just beside Chloe's foot. At first, it doesn't appear that Chloe has noticed anything, but then, still writing, she leans down gracefully and picks it up, twirling the pencil gently between long fingers.

Beca glares at the pencil. Of all of her pencils, it had to be that one? The one which used to say 'It's not cool to do drugs'? It was a souvenir from life class a few years ago. After much use (mostly by Jesse, who found it hilarious), it now reads 'do drugs'. Beca mentally facepalms. Sure enough, Chloe is reading the side with a confused look on her face. Damnit.

Beca quickly rearranges her facial expression, with difficulty, into something more happy as Chloe turns and holds out the pencil to her, smiling ever so slightly and biting her lip in such an adorable way that she can't help but be drawn to it. With an almost shaking hand, Beca reaches out and takes back her pencil, face going red once again as Chloe offers that soft smile to her. She fumbles slightly, but manages not to drop the pencil a second time.

Chloe has already turned back to the paper, no doubt composing another faultless answer, but Beca has no such luck. Resisting the urge to smell the pencil to see whether any of Chloe's perfume has lingered from her touch, she decides to have another go at the paper. Maybe some of Chloe's cleverness will have rubbed off on to the pencil. It may just be wishful thinking, but Beca actually accomplishes a few answers that are both legible and sensible.

She daydreams about Chloe for a while, and must have got caught up in her fantasy, because the next thing she remembers is being shaken awake by the exasperated invigilator. Lifting her head from where it was lying on her arms, and blinking a few times, she peers around through sleep-misted eyes, and sees Chloe looking towards her.

Beca flushes, scowls, and tries to slouch even lower in her chair than she already is, which only results in the chair squeaking loudly and unhelpfully. The flush spreads to her ears, which feel like they are on fire, and she glances around furtively for a distraction that is not Chloe.

She doesn't find one.

Looking back at the clock to divert herself, Beca is surprised to see that there are only 30 minutes left on the exam.

On the whole, Beca doesn't mind the silence of the exam room. But right now for her it seems way too loud. She swings on her chair, but miscalculates and has to compensate for her bad balance by grabbing at the sides of the desk. Which is nowhere near stable enough and upends all her things on to the floor.

The sound of her pencil case hitting the floor with a thud, spilling its contents across the floor, is all too loud, and heads turn to face her. Beca is tempted to bang her head repeatedly against something. Instead, she huffs dramatically, shaking off everyone's judgemental stares, and resigns herself to the embarrassment of picking up everything off the floor.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, Beca can't quite decide which), she has a redheaded saviour in the form of her neighbour. Chloe leans down in an easy motion to gather up Beca's test paper and holds it out to her. She raises an eyebrow when Beca doesn't immediately take it, but Beca jerks herself out of her Chloe-induced stupor and shoves the paper back onto her desk ungracefully.

Beca moves over to collect the stationery scattered across the floor on the other side, but is caught off guard by the vibration of her phone. Her phone, which should be outside the exam hall. If there is one thing Beca prides herself on, it's her disregard for rules. Right now, though, she almost wishes she had left the phone where it was supposed to be.

Please let it not be Jesse is all she can think, but of course it is. After all, who else would be calling her in the middle of an exam? Unluckily for her, the ringtone she uses for Jesse is not exactly... child-friendly, and Beca always has the volume on her phone turned way up so she can hear it while mixing.

Beca shuts her eyes in a final plea as the ringtone begins to blast across the hall. She is tempted to press her fingers to her temples to alleviate her growing headache, but resists.

The urge to throw her phone across the room is getting stronger. Not that that would actually achieve anything.

'The person on the phone's a fucking twat, fucking twat, fucking twat. The person on the phone's a fucking twat so don't answer this call.' her phone sings, to the tune of 'The Wheels On The Bus'. Heads are turning right across the hall and Beca has never been more mortified in her life.

She buries her head in her hands, reminiscent of an ostrich, as the second verse begins.

'The person on the phone's a stupid prick, stupid prick, stupid prick. The person on the phone's a stupid prick so don't answer this call'.

Beca glances up to see everyone staring at her. She doesn't dare look at Chloe. Many students are stifling giggles and a few are openly laughing. She flushes in embarrassment.

'The person on the phone talks lots of shit, lots of shit, lots of shit. The person on the phone talks lots of shit so don't answer this call.' The final verse blares out and the invigilator, Miss Oswald, starts to stride purposefully towards Beca's desk. The flush on Beca's cheeks works its way to her ears and neck and she curses her pale skin.

Unfortunately, Beca never got round to picking up the stationery on the floor. The teacher, who is about to reach out for the phone, ends up tripping on a pen and falling face first on to the floor.

Beca smirks. This could not have been any worse, but thankfully the teacher now sprawled ungracefully across the floor has taken most of the attention off her.

If this was a cartoon, steam would be pouring from Miss Oswald's ears right about now. Her cheeks are scarlet with embarrassment and anger as she stands and it is obvious that nearly all the people in the exam hall have completely given up on their tests to watch the unfolding spectacle.

The teacher holds out a hand imperiously, and Beca, still smirking, places the phone into it. Miss Oswald snatches her hand away and moves back to her seat at the front.

'Silence!' she calls out, and with a few shuffles and murmurs, the hall is returned to only the quiet noise of pens jotting down answers.

Not having the confidence to look back at Chloe, who she is sure will be horrified by her blatant ignorance of the rules, Beca goes back to retrieving her stationery off the floor.

Ten minutes later, when her pens have been organised in all the ways she can think of, Beca is bored out of her mind. The clock reads five minutes to go.

Luckily for her, nothing more happens in those five minutes.

'Stop writing, time's up!' calls Miss Oswald, who collects the papers in agonising slowly. Beca is dying to get out so she can murder the idiot she calls a best friend. She should have expected her luck wouldn't hold.

'Stay behind, please, Miss Mitchell.'

Beca groans and lets her head hit the desk with a thunk. She waits for everyone to file out, not bothering to look up, before making her way to the front as slowly as possible.

'This is not to happen again.' says the teacher. Beca nods, her eyes downcast in the perfect picture of deference. She should have taken drama, she thinks to herself.

Miss Oswald hands Beca's phone to her, catching her eyes with a searching gaze. 'You know you can always talk to me, right, Beca?' she asks, and Beca almost scoffs before remembering her mask. She nods instead, dropping her eyes to avoid laughing. Like she would ever willingly talk to a teacher.

Beca turns to leave the exam hall. Well, it could have been worse.

 **Might continue this if anyone wants me to. Reviews welcome!**


	2. Chapter 2

Two weeks later, her class get the test back. Beca stares at the percentage on the front. Fifteen percent. She got fifteen percent in an exam?! Her dad is going to kill her.

Even by her own dismal standards, this is a low grade, so Beca is not surprised to hear her name called out to stay after class.

'Beca!' says the teacher, shuffling through the papers to find hers. 'Ah...yes...you, er, didn't do so well on this test. Do you know why that is, hm?'

Of course, Beca thinks, because I couldn't tear my eyes away from Chloe. But she would never say that out loud.

'No idea, sir.'

'Hm, yes, alright then.' the teacher mumbles, his attention already focused on something else. 'You will have to have tutoring from someone in your class, I simply don't have the time.' Yeah right, Beca thinks, because teachers have such great social lives. Her train of thought is cut off by the teacher finishing, 'I have already arranged for Miss Beale to teach you on Wednesday evenings at the library. You may go.'

Beca turns to leave, outraged. He didn't even bother to consult her. What if she hadn't been able to make Wednesday evenings? What would he have done then?

A thought hits her. Wednesday evenings are her shift at the station, she can't miss them! She groans at the thought of having to explain to Luke that she can't work at that time anymore because she has to be tutored. He'll think she doesn't care about her music anymore. She'll have to change her shift.

And, of all the people in her class, it had to be Chloe. Even Aubrey, Chloe's best friend, would have been better. This was already going to be awkward enough without Beca's mountain-sized crush getting in the way.

She toys with the notion of not going, just to spite the teacher, but scraps that idea. Beca wouldn't be able to stand Chloe up like that, especially after Chloe has agreed to tutor someone who she has never spoken to in her life.

Beca doesn't understand how Chloe can be like that; she herself would have just said no and completely forgotten about it the next day. But then, when has Chloe ever been anything less than complicated? It's one of the reasons why Beca can't get rid of her crush. If Chloe had been one-dimensional and shallow, like most of the girls in their year, Beca would have given up straight away. But Chloe proves every time Beca sees her that she is so much more than an arguably very pretty face.

Her phone vibrates with a text. It's from Jesse (who else), asking her to meet him in the usual place. The usual place being a slightly dingy, greasy cafe right at the midpoint between their two houses. It might be dirty, but it serves the best coffee around and there's almost never anyone else there.

They found the cafe one evening last year walking from his house to hers. As usual, Jesse was being an annoying idiot and Beca was in dire need of strong coffee. As she is now.

Although Beca still hasn't quite forgiven Jesse for calling her when he knew she was in an exam, she sends off a quick reply telling him that she'll be there in 10.

Of course, when she arrives he is already there and armed with the strongest drink the place sells. He knows her too well. She would thank him, but by now it is their usual routine that whoever gets there first buys the drinks. And she wouldn't want to inflate his ego any more.

Beca dumps her bag on the floor beside her chair, not noticing when her German textbook falls out, and slumps into the seat. It creaks ominously. She reaches out across the table for the coffee, burying her head in the chipped mug, and sighs in relief at the bitter taste. Now, if only the idiot across from her would go away.

'Becaw! I haven't seen you since lunchtime! How are you? You've grown so much - actually, no, you haven't.' Jesse simpers dramatically.

'That was a surprisingly good imitation of my least favourite aunt.' she offers, deflecting the question.

'Only your least favourite? Damnit.' he frowns, obviously thinking of a way to improve.

'Anyway,' she interrupts, 'you don't even do drama. Why do you need to get better?'

'Drama was a waste of my talent, and I'm running out of ways to annoy you. Why did you think?' he fires back.

'You know what, I don't even care anymore.' she sighs, shaking her head.

'Bad day?' Jesse asks sympathetically, immediately picking up on her annoyance. Beca nods silently, scowling a little at the pity in his tone. Not bothering to reply just yet, she focuses instead on the drink in front of her.

'Yeah... we got our Chemistry results back,' Beca grimaces, after a pause, 'and I did shittily, no thanks to you. Fifteen percent! My dad is going to kill me!'

Jesse smirks, completely unrepentant. 'Well, it was you that gave me your exam timetable, it's not like it's my fault you did so badly.'

'I gave you my exam timetable so you would know when not to call me!'

'But that's practically an open invitation! You didn't have to take your phone into the exam hall.' he says.

'And you didn't have to call me.' she replies, still slightly annoyed at him for making her look like a fool. Beca knows she can't tell him the real reason, i.e. Chloe, that she did so badly. No-one, not even Jesse, knows about her crush, and she'd rather it stays that way. It doesn't help that Jesse also has a crush on Chloe. Beca has to deal with his lovesick comments every day while pretending to be completely indifferent. He always asks her about Chloe, even though they only share one lesson. As if Beca would have any idea. She's never even talked to the girl! Unfortunately.

'Anyway,' she continues, 'that's not even the worst part. So I got called to stay behind and I was expecting a detention or something, for 'causing a disruption.'' She makes quote marks with her fingers. 'But no, I have to have an hour every week, indefinitely, of tutoring.' She hisses the last word like it is chewing gum stuck to her shoe.

Jesse laughs outright. 'You know, Becaw, that's not actually too bad. Who's it with, the teacher? Aubrey? Me? A unicorn?'

'No, it's with Chloe freaking Beale!' Beca near-yells, before letting her head hit the table with a thud. Thankfully, the only other person in the cafe is the waitress, who gives them an odd look before returning to the kitchen.

Jesse's jaw drops. 'You mean, you get to spend an hour every week with her?! I would kill to be in your position right now!'

Beca cuts him off before he can start rambling. 'Wednesday evening, Jesse. Wednesdays! That's my shift at the station!'

'So what?' he replies. 'Luke loves you!' She glares at him. 'Not like that! Anyway, just swap shifts with him or something. You get to work with Chloe Beale, I mean, why are you trying to get out of this? It can't be all that bad.'

She grits her teeth. 'Because, Jesse, last I checked our friendly neighbourhood Chloe hated me?' This is more than a bit of an exaggeration, and Jesse knows it.

'What are you on about? Are we talking about the same person?! I'm pretty sure Chloe is unable to dislike anyone, let alone hate them.' He pauses, and Beca takes another long drink. 'Hang on. If you're thinking of the Lunch Tray Incident again, then so help me I will hurt you, best friend or no best friend. It was two years ago! I thought you were over this!'

'I am over this! Just, tripping and throwing your lunch over your best friend's crush on your first day is not exactly the best way to make a first impression.'

Jesse scoffs. 'Yeah, you're really not over that.'

'I am!'

'Keep telling yourself that, one day it might come true.' He flicks her on the nose and makes to get up. 'Want to come back to mine and watch a movie?' At her immediate look of distaste, he grins. 'Nah? Thought I'd ask anyway, it doesn't hurt.'

'The day I agree to watch a movie with you, of my own free will, without being bribed with ice cream, is the day the world ends.' she replies, exasperated.

He is still grinning away, even as he turns to leave. 'Guess I'd better get to work on those nuclear bomb plans then.'

The door swings shut behind him and Beca finally lets herself smile at his idiocy.

After finishing her coffee, Beca makes her way back home. Her rucksack hangs carelessly off one shoulder. By now it's dark out, but she doesn't really care. The dark gives her some much-needed time to think.

When she reaches the house, she has to fight to get the keys to turn in the lock. Of course, when they finally turn the door opens suddenly, pitching her across the hallway.

Luckily, or unluckily, she doesn't land on anything except the cold, hard floor. Dusting herself off, Beca moves her bag slightly out of the way of the door. She shucks off her shoes, not bothering to put them on the shoe rack. Someone will most likely yell at her later for this, but it's worth it just to piss off the stepmonster.

Beca walks through to the kitchen to make herself toast. The toaster is broken, so she shuts the door behind her to avoid setting off the smoke alarm.

The phone on the side reads 2 messages. Pressing play, she listens while waiting for her toast to be done. One message is (predictably) from her father, telling her he has a Parents Evening (also predictable) and will be home late. The other, not so predictably, was left by Chloe of all people only a few minutes ago, asking Beca to call her back when she can.

Caught by surprise, Beca misses the sound of the toast popping and instead is jerked from her thoughts by the odour of the burnt toast. She lifts it out gingerly but hisses with pain and drops it. It's way too hot. Idiot, her mental voice reprimands as she carries the ruined toast to the bin, using tongs this time.

She replays the message. 'Hi, this is Chloe Beale calling for Beca Mitchell. Beca, it would be great if you could call me back. Thank you!'

Beca stands there for a while, working up the courage to dial Chloe's number.

Eventually, she lifts the receiver as though it is something precious and carries it up to her room, kicking the door shut behind her. Beca flops onto her bed and presses the call button gingerly. She almost jumps when the dial tone sounds.

Someone picks up, and Beca lets out the breath she didn't realise she was holding.

'Hello?' the person on the other end says. Whoever it is is definitely female, but not Chloe. Maybe her mum?

'Hi, yes, hi, um, it's Beca. Mitchell.' she adds awkwardly when the speaker doesn't reply.

There is a moment of silence, and then, 'Oh, Beca Mitchell! I'll get Chloe for you, shall I?'

Beca hums in agreement and waits, wincing and moving the receiver away from her ear when the speaker yells, 'Chloe!'.

She hears the sound of footsteps in the background and a quick, hushed conversation, before Chloe comes on the phone.

'Hi, Beca!' she says enthusiastically, greeting her as if they are old friends.

'Um... hey, I guess?' Beca replies, unsure of how she should act.

'So, I think Sir spoke to you about me tutoring you? Are Wednesday evenings in the library okay?' says Chloe, getting straight to the point.

'Yeah, that sounds fine.' Beca says without thinking, content to agree with Chloe, and then mentally slaps herself for missing the chance to find another time to meet.

'Awesome! Do you have this Wednesday, maybe from 5-6 o'clock free to start the tutoring?' Chloe asks.

'Yeah.' Beca replies, even though Luke is going to kill her for missing her shift.

'Cool. I've got to go eat dinner, so I guess I'll see you Wednesday? Bye!' Chloe hangs up, leaving Beca talking to an empty room.

Beca shakes her head with a slight smile on her face. Chloe probably thinks she is some kind of idiot who can only speak in monosyllables. Although, in her defence, Chloe is quite overwhelming.

She gets up and puts her headphones on, trying to make a start on some of her ideas for a new Chloe-inspired mix. Wednesday can't come soon enough.

 **Review? I got a really great response on the first chapter and I'd love some feedback!**


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